Devices

You can call it a lucid dreaming device, mask or goggles, but we are going to make it! You are going to make a lucid dream mask on your own.

[]Why spend hundred on a Remee when you can build your own lucid dream device for 5 times lower price and have fun? We are going to use Arduino (an open-source computer hardware and software company) to achieve that. This is very quick and dirty do it yourself project, it will take only few hours!

Shopping List:

fig. 1 – Needed components

Arduino UNO Starter Kit.You won’t need all the cables, resistors and the breadboard, but the price is very similar to buying everything separately.

Cable Ties. You will need these to tighten the Arduino board to the headband

Let’s get to the business! The Hardware:

Wrap the ends of your resistors (220 to 1000 Ohm will be good) around the male ends of your cables. Bend the other ends of resistors in half and connect them to pins 9 and 10 on the Arduino board, see fig. 2 (I told you it’s a quick and dirty way!)

In fig. 3 you can see the connections schematics. They are really simple. Take note that the shorter end (cathode) of the led light should go into the GND pin on Arduino.

Bend your LEDs at 90 degrees (that way they will directly face your eyes). Also, secure them in place with sticky tape, see fig. 4

In fig. 5 I used cable tie to secure the Arduino board with battery to the headband. Also, I straightened a paper clip and taped it to the each side along with the cables (that will make the LEDs ‘ position easily adjustable). The LEDs and the wires themselves are simply pinned to the headband with the safety pins.

fig. 5 – secure

fig. 4 – prepare LEDs

fig. 3 – Schematics

fig. 2 – prep. resistors

The Software:

I will not go into details on how to prepare your Arduino board and install all the needed software. The official quick start guide is really sufficient. Just copy-paste the following code into a new Arduino sketch.

You can modify the OPTIONS section to achieve various light patterns. I’ll give you some:

Option repeat specifies how many times you want the lights to repeat the pattern (i.e. increase it if you are deep sleeper. ) minInterval and minInterval specifies time interval for the light pattern to repeat. I suggest you start with something between 5 and 15 minutes and then tweak from there.

You got the lucid dreaming mask, now what?

It’s time to use it! However, the flashing lights might not be sufficient for you to become lucid. You need to associate those flashing lights to the dream state. For example, if you are using red and blue LED lights (which are similar to the police lights), you can tell to yourself: “every time I see police lights I must be dreaming, I must do a reality check.”

The second part to successful use of this device is tweaking. By experimenting with various light patterns and different delay times you should find what works for you best.

More possibilities

Arduino is cool. There are many different sensors for you to explore. Movement, sound, pulse or temperature sensors can be added to your project to make it better. Who knows, maybe you are going to be the next lucid dreaming mask inventor?